Aligning device for the printing wheels of an electro-magnetic counter



E. J. ZEITLIN Feb. 23, 196 7 ALIGNING DEVICE FOR THE PRINTING WHEELS OF AN ELECTED-MAGNETIC COUNTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 5, 1965 JNVENTOR. EDWARD z EITL 7A1 Feb. 28, 1967 E. J. ZEITLJN 3,306,537

ALIGNING DEVICE FOR THE PRINTING WHEELS OF AN ELECTED-MAGNETIC COUNTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 3, 1965 INVENTOR. EDWARD -J ZE/TL/JV ABE/VT United States Patent Ofiiice 3,306,537 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 3,306,537 ALIGNING DEVICE FOR THE PRHNTING WHEELS OF AN ELECTRU-MAGNETIC CQUNTER Edward J. Zeitlin, Peekskill, N.Y., assignor to Standard Instrument Corporation, New York, N.Y. Filed Feb. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 439,121 2 Claims. (Cl. 235-131) This invention relates to counting and printing apparatus for driving a number or letter wheel and arresting the same in a print position and more particularly to apparatus for stopping the same so that all characters or type face elements on the print wheel are aligned in print position and in addition particularly to a gravity balanced alignment bar for maintaining the print wheel in a print position after each step of advance of said print wheel.

In this device the characters face outwardly from the periphery of the print wheel to be rotatably advanced into printing position. As the characters reach the printing position they will immediately pass therefrom or will be held in position for a printing operation. If any print wheel is being advanced it must be moved to an aligned position that is in alignment so that the characters on the Wheel moved will be in alignment with the characters on the other wheels, otherwise the wheels will not be in print position and the misalignment would provide very poor print copy.

Because of the alignment bar to selectively arrest the print wheel, the invention is particularly suited to be incorporated in record card or tape printing machines such as recording and accounting machines. Of course the impulse for energizing the printing hammers may come from any source.

Accordingly the prime object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement of apparatus for driving and stopping a plurality of digit type face printing wheels so that all type thereof can be brought to rest in a predetermined aligned position.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement of apparatus which enables a gravity means of positioning the print wheels.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a detent means on the tens transfer pinion for positioning a plurality of print wheels in aligned relationship with each other after each movement of a wheel.

Other objects of this invention shall be apparent by reference to the accompanying detailed description and the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a front elevational mechanism,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an end plan view of the counter taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side elevational FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a side detailed view taken on line FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail illustrating the contact of the alignment bar,

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view taken on line 77 of FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a bar.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1 there is illustrated an electrically driven counting and printing apparatus 10 that includes a counter 11, a pair of ribbon supporting reels 12 and 14, that retain an inked ribbon 15, and a printing hammer 16. The reels 12 and 14 are supported on either side of said counting and printing apparatus 10 by means of brackets 17 and 18 so view of the counter view taken on line 4-4 of perspective illustration of the alignment that ribbon 15 may be fed from one reel to the other and pass directly under the printing end 19 of apparatus 10. The printing hammer 16 is positioned directly below ribbon 15 and in alignment with the printing end 19 of apparatus 19. A card, tape or paper 20 to be printed upon is interposed between the ribbon 15 and the hammer 16 so that when the hammer is actuated for a printing operation it will press said paper 20 against said tape 15 causing the raised numbers or letters then positioned at the printing end 19 to be recorded on said paper due to the inked ribbon 15. The operation of said printing hammer 16 is illustrated in FIG. 2. Hammer 16 is comprised of a head 16A and 'an arm 16B. Arm 16B is fixed or integral with a second arm 16C that is pivotally mounted on a pivot 21. Ann 160 is provided with an extended portion 22 having an aperture 23. Solenoid 24 has a reciprocable plunger 25 that is pivotally connected to aperture 23 of portion 22. Solenoid 24 is connected by conductors 26 and 27 in series to a battery B and a switch S. Thus when switch S is closed solenoid 24 is energized and plunger 25 will move to the right FIG. 2. This produces a pivotal movement of portion 22 about pivot 21 and in turn a pivotal movement of 16A, 16B, and 16C, thus causing hammer 16 to produce the necessary pressure stroke for printing. Hammer 16 is returned after each printing stroke by spring 28 and limited in its movement by a stop 29. The counting and printing apparatus 10 is comprised of a plurality of counting and printing wheels 31) mounted on a common shaft 31. All wheels are freely rotatable on shaft 31 and all wheels are inter-connected, that is, each wheel in addition to its numbered or lettered printing figures (1 thru in this embodiment) it is provided with a toothed integral gear 32 on one side and a single tooth pocket 33 on the opposite side (FIG. 7). There is a second shaft 34 that supports a small gear 35 situated between each pair of adjacent wheels 30. Gear 35 is continually in mesh with gear 32 however gear 35 is only actuated one step for each complete revolution of the wheel 30 situated on its right (FIGS. 3, 4, and 7). This is due to the single tooth pocket 33 of wheel 30 picking up the gear 35 On each complete revolution. Thus the transfer count from 9 to O on one wheel moves the next wheel from 0 to 1 showing the count of 10 and similarly the count of 99 transfers to the third wheel showing etc. In the rapid transfer operation of printing counters, the inertia of the movement can cause the misalignment of one wheel to another, that is the number or letter sightings or printing positions to vary and produce a poor misaligned or partially printed copy. To remedy this condition it is necessary to impose a stop for each Wheel to insure the wheel stopping so that its printing face is aligned with the printing face of the adjacent wheels. Since the wheels are freely rotatable on shaft 31 and gears 35 are freely rotatable on shaft 34 no stop can be imposed on the shafts, however since gears 35 are the means of producing the transfer step the alignment of all gears 35 will produce an alignment of all wheels 30 therefore an alignment bar 37 (FIGS. 4, 6, and 8) is provided. Bar 37 fitting the curvature of the space between teeth on gear 35, so that when pressed into engagement with all gears 35 a perfect alignment of all wheels 30 will be attained.

Referring to FIG. 5 there is illustrated the stepping relay 40 operated by a counting circuit (not shown). Each time the relay 40 is energized the armature 41 that is pivotally mounted at 42 will be picked up. Armature 41 has a curved drive finger 42 that moves counter-clockwise over a drive gear 43 when armature 41 is lifted. Armature 41 is connected at its outer limit 44 to a stationary point 45 by a spring 46. This armature 41 is snapped down when relay 40 releases and in turn pushing finger 42 clockwise. Finger 42 is pressed against gear 43 and it will engage a tooth thus turning gear 43 one step clockwise. Since gear 43 is attached to the first wheel 30 it will advance the first wheel 30 one step for each time relay 40 is energized. The first wheel 30 will make 9 stops when gear 35 will pick up pocket 33 and advance the second wheel one stop as already described. As gear 43 steps clockwise wheel 30 will be moved clockwise and gear 35 will be moved counterclockwise. When any gear 35 is moved counter-clockwise the alignment bar 37 will be forced outward to the left (FIG. 6) and will immediately fall back into the next notch of gear or gears 35 stopping them all in an aligned relationship. Referring to FIG. 8 it is apparent that the alignment bar 37 is part of a frame 50. Frame 50 is comprised of two parallel end supports 51 and 52. The frame 50 includes bar 37 at the bottom and a bar 53 at the top to hold the rectangular frame in the relationship as shown. The ends 51 and 52 are provided wtih aligned apertures 54 and 55 to permit mounting the frame 50 in a pivotal relation on a shaft 56. Shaft 56 is supported between the sides 57 and 58 of the counter-printer 10. It is to be noted that the ends 51 and 52 of frame 50 are shaped so that the apertures 54 and 55 are offset so that the frame 50 may hang by gravity as illustrated in FIG. 8 and because of the unequal weight distribution bar 53 will tend to hang or swing out (counterclockwise) while bar 37 will tend to swing in (counterclockwise). This unbalancing of frame 50 permits thealignment bar 37 to move outward when forced outward by gear 35 (FIG. dotted position) but alignment bar 37 swings in (counter-clockwise) by gravity and aligns all gears 35 and in turn all wheels for each step of movement of wheels 30 Shaft 31 is also provided with a hand or finger setting knob 60 to permit resetting the counter.

Although the counter may be operated at a high speed it is to be noted that gear will move the alignment bar only once for each complete revolution of a wheel 30 thus the gravity positioned alignment bar 37 has ample time to drop back and hold all gears 35 in alignment and in turn all wheels 30 in alignment.

Although FIG. 8 shows the principle of operation it is to be understood that the unbalance may be increased or decreased as desired and of course the weight of unbalance may be accurately designed for the most desirable effect.

Although this invention has been described with relation to a counting and printing apparatus it is to be understood that the principles of aligning a plurality of wheels to provide a visual or recorded record shall apply to any other device having similar structure without departing from the spirit of this invention and this invention shall be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a counting and printing apparatus having a counteractuating drive a plurality of counting wheels mounted in a row in adjacent relationship on a single shaft and freely rotatable thereon,

a first counting wheel connected to said counter-actuating drive,

each wheel provided with indicia on its surface,

each wheel provided with an integral gear on one side and a single gear pocket on the opposite side,

a plurality of inter-connecting gears mounted on a second shaft and freely rotatable thereon,

said interconnecting gears provided with a plurality of teeth and having a rounded curvature from tooth to tooth,

each inter-connecting gear positioned between two adjacent counting wheels and meshed with the integral wheel gear and meshable with the single pocket of the adjacent gear,

a pivotally mounted frame that is mounted on one side of said counting wheels and is provided with a straight alignment bar that extends from one side of said row of counting wheels to the other side.

said alignment bar positioned to abut with each interconnecting gear and to fi-t the curvature of said gear between teeth to hold all gears in an aligned relationship,

said pivotal frame being unbalanced so that the force of gravity will always drop said frame when free in a counter-clockwise direction,

said pivotal frame movable in a clockwise direction by the thrust of said interconnected gears when they are driven by the counter drive.

2. In a counting and printing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said indicia are in the form of type, and in which an inked tape is retained under said wheels of said counting and printing apparatus and in which a printing hammeris positioned under said inked tape and in which a paper is positioned above said printing hammer and below said inked tape to receive the transcribed record of the counting and printing apparatus.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,341,995 6/1920 Pitrnan 235l39 1,348,575 8/1920 Odhner 23513l 1,780,770 11/1930 Salustri 235139 X 1,931,113 10/1933 Muller 23513O X 1,950,617 3/1934 Lee 235l31 2,331,884 10/1943 Bliss 235l3l 2,636,680 4/1953 Summers 235-131 X 2,714,050 7/1955 Germann.

2,903,184 9/1959 Weatherby 235-58 X 2,980,329 4/1961 Hoffmann 235139 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

LEO SMILOW, Examiner.

T. I. ANDERSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A COUNTING AND PRINTING APPARATUS HAVING A COUNTERACTUATING DRIVE A PLURALITY OF COUNTING WHEELS MOUNTED IN A ROW IN ADJACENT RELATIONSHIP ON A SINGLE SHAFT AND FREELY ROTATABLE THEREON, A FIRST COUNTING WHEEL CONNECTED TO SAID COUNTER-ACTUATING DRIVE, EACH WHEEL PROVIDED WITH INDICIA ON ITS SURFACE, EACH WHEEL PROVIDED WITH AN INTEGRAL GEAR ON ONE SIDE AND A SINGLE GEAR POCKET ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE, A PLURALITY OF INTER-CONNECTING GEARS MOUNTED ON A SECOND SHAFT AND FREELY ROTATABLE THEREON, SAID INTERCONNECTING GEARS PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF TEETH AND HAVING A ROUNDED CURVATURE FROM TOOTH TO TOOTH, EACH INTER-CONNECTING GEAR POSITIONED BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT COUNTING WHEELS AND MESHED WITH THE INTEGRAL WHEEL GEAR AND MESHABLE WITH THE SINGLE POCKET OF THE ADJACENT GEAR, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FRAME THAT IS MOUNTED ON ONE SIDE OF SAID COUNTING WHEELS AND IS PROVIDED WITH A STRAIGHT ALIGNMENT BAR THAT EXTENDS FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID ROW OF COUNTING WHEELS TO THE OTHER SIDE. SAID ALIGNMENT BAR POSITIONED TO ABUT WITH EACH INTERCONNECTING GEAR AND TO FIT THE CURVATURE OF SAID GEAR BETWEEN TEETH TO HOLD ALL GEARS IN AN ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP, SAID PIVOTAL FRAME BEING UNBALANCED SO THAT THE FORCE OF GRAVITY WILL ALWAYS DROP SAID FRAME WHEN FREE IN A COUNTER-CLOCKWISE DIRECTION, SAID PIVOTAL FRAME MOVABLE IN A CLOCKWISE DIRECTION BY THE THRUST OF SAID INTERCONNECTED GEARS WHEN THEY ARE DRIVEN BY THE COUNTER DRIVE. 